Starship Skills
Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Starships of the Galaxy Several Skills can be used in new ways in Starship Scale encounters. Anyone can attempt these uses if filling the appropriate position on a Starship (Normally the Pilot or System Operator). Deception See Also: Deception, Starship Deception If you are the Pilot of a Vehicle, you can make Deception checks to Feint or Create a Diversion to Hide. Add your Vehicle's size modifier and Dexterity modifier to your Deception check, and take a -5 penalty if you are not Trained in the Pilot skill. If you successfully Feint against a target, it is considered Flat-Footed against only your first attack, not those of any Gunners on your Vehicle. Perception See Also: Perception, Starship Perception Perception is considerably less effective at the greater distances involved in Starship Scale combat. As such, you take a -5 penalty on your Perception check to Notice Targets for every square of range (Rather than for every 10 squares). Stealth See Also: Stealth, Starship Stealth If you are the Pilot, you can use Stealth to Sneak in a Starship just as you do normally. Add your Vehicle's size modifier (See above) and Dexterity modifier to your Stealth check, and take a -5 penalty if you are not Trained in the Pilot skill. The Stealth check result sets the DC of a Use Computer check to locate you with a Vehicle's sensors or the Perception check DC to Notice you with normal senses (Normally impossible at Starship Scale, but not when you try to hide your Starship in a swamp or the back of a hangar). Normally, you can make a Stealth check in a Vehicle only if you have Concealment or Cover (For example, from asteroids, other Starships, or even clouds in the upper atmosphere). You can even attempt to hide against the hull of an enemy Starship that is at least two sizes larger than your Vehicle, provided that you make a Deception check to Create a Diversion to Hide (See Starship Deception) and you can reach the enemy Starship with a single Move Action. (Han Solo uses this trick to hide on the Star Destroyer Avenger in The Empire Strikes Back.) Use Computer The following are some expanded applications of the Use Computer skill. Astrogate (Trained Only) See Also: Astrogate, Additional Astrogate A Navicomputer allows a character aboard a Starship to make a Use Computer check to Astrogate Untrained. Additionally, you may choose to plot a Hyperspace course more aggressively than normal, reducing your travel time by increasing the chance of something going wrong. For every 5 points by which you increase the Use Computer check DC, you may reduce your travel time by 1 day; if this would reduce the travel time to less than 1 day, you instead reduce the remaining travel time by one-half, to a minimum of 1 hour. You must make the decision to increase the Use Computer check DC before making the check. Alternatively, you may gain a +5 circumstance bonus on your Use Computer check if you voluntarily double the travel time. Use Communications See Also: Use Communications As a Swift Action, you can make a DC 5 Use Computer check to hail a Vehicle (DC 0 if the other Vehicle is using an IFF Transponder with the same encryption codes as yours); if willing, that Vehicle's System Operator can then open communications as a Reaction. You can also attempt to establish secure communications, but doing this requires both System Operators to make a Use Computer check as a Move Action. The greater of the two check results sets the DC for any attempts to intercept their communications. As a Standard Action, you can attempt to intercept communications between two other Vehicles. If the other Vehicles take no special precautions, this is a DC 20 Use Computer check; otherwise, the DC is set by the higher of their Use Computer check results for securing communications. Furthermore, if the other Vehicles are using encrypted communications systems (Such as a Comlink (Encrypted) or IFF Transponders with matching encryption codes), add 10 to the DC. If your check result fails by 10 or less when attempting to intercept encrypted communications, you can identify what encryption protocols they are using. ("It might be an Imperial Code.") Use Sensors See Also: Use Sensors Using a ship's sensors involves making Use Computer checks for much the same functions as the Perception Skill is normally used. You make a Use Computer check to use a ship's sensors to Avoid Surprise, Notice Targets, or Search a ship's exterior for hidden weapons or compartments. On Starship Scale maps, your Use Computer check has a -5 penalty for every 10 squares between you and the target, and you take a -5 penalty on your check if attempting to detect a target that is powered down or otherwise not emitting an energy signature. Obstacles, Cloaking Devices, Jammers, and sensor masks can also impose penalties. In addition, you may attempt to learn more about a target by making a Use Computer check (Modified by range, as above). A DC 10 check result identifies the size of the Vehicle and determines whether is has Starship Shields active. A DC 15 check result reveals the exact make of the Starship (If the observer would recognize it- alien ships are simply identified as being of unknown manufacture) and the number of Weapon Systems it has (But not the exact type of Weapon Systems). The first time a Vehicle moves within 30 squares of yours, you may make a Use Computer check as a Reaction to identify it. Further efforts require a Move Action.